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History repeating itself

10,000 Birds

Sadly, as I’ve explained before , most of these species became extinct as humans arrived on the islands, and with it one of the most astonishing radiations of birds imaginable. I certainly did when I visited the two southern islands of Tonga a few years ago. But here’s the thing. It didn’t used to be.

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Armchair Splits in the Pacific

10,000 Birds

Of course, I have seen many more birds than this, but between having terrible notes, really awful notes, or entirely lost notes, eBird doesn’t represent my total life list at all. It comes down to the other reason why eBird doesn’t have all the birds I’ve seen. Photo from ‘Eua, Tonga. It was a split.

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Where Are You Birding This Third Weekend of June 2011?

10,000 Birds

This time of year might not mean much for birding depending on where in the world you live, but if you find yourself in a temperate zone north of the Equator, you might love this season as much as I do. What are you doing this weekend and will you be birding? Also be sure to come back Monday to share your best bird of the weekend !

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Petrel Paradise

10,000 Birds

home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birds / Petrel Paradise Petrel Paradise By Duncan • March 2, 2011 • 4 comments Tweet Share I’ve mentioned before that New Zealand is a great place for enjoying petrels. Get yours today!

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The complete guide to Dodo relatives, living and dead

10,000 Birds

All of the birds within Raphini are highly specialized for island life. It’s a spectacular pigeon with long neck plumes and blue, green, and copper iridescence in its feathers (I mean, look at this bird ), and it lives on islands from the western Indian Ocean all the way out through northern Melanesia. ” Beehler et al.’s

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Tongatapu and ‘Eua; Birding Southern Tonga

10,000 Birds

I mentioned last week, while talking about rails and the Pacific, that Tonga is not a particularly birdy birding destination. A combination of extinctions and proximity to Fiji means that a trip to that island group would net you pretty much all the same birds plus a whole raft of others.

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Regarding Kakariki

10,000 Birds

It was long expected that the fossil record would show extinct members of the genus in the islands between New Zealand/New Caledonia and the Society Islands (places like Tonga, Fiji, the Cook Islands) that had gone extinct before Europeans arrived, but no such fossils have been found.